Amp suggestions for gigging

[Tony W]

I was on the fence with the mustang when I bought the spider Jam. I was already a line 6 whore, so I continued..... I might have to track Ron down.... maybe road trip to him and play his rig.

[Gnasty]

So much amps and tones to choose. I would say this amp is the bees knees and not many people have heard of it!

The Evil Robot is the amp to get for a classic rock sound. Has great crunch too. I wanna get one badly!

There are other demos you can listen to on youtube


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CZKksFkH9A

[Geir]

Much good advice have been given here Tony. And ultimately ou'll have to test some amps to find the one that's for you.

From my experience, in a similar setting to yours, my only additional advice is to be light on the effects. A distortion pedal might be a good choice if you're amp only has two channels, but everything else only will mud up the sound. Two guitars is A LOT !!!! I think Henny will love me for this ( ) : Do NOT use any reverb, delay or chorus/flanger. With two guitarists it's paramount to keep it simple !!!! In a recording session it's ok to experiment but live it almost certainly will get muddy if the effects are overdone !!

[Tony W]

I am completely eating up this thread. I knew I could count on you fine folk to give a ton of viable feedback so I could make an educated decision. I've got plenty to work with and hope to have more.

Eric, when I hear an evil robot in your stable, and some examples.... I might hop on that train. You're a guitar....hero... yeah I am referring to the song.... in my world.

Geir, so true with the effects, and keeping it simple. One thing I've noticed with my limited experience is to not throw the kitchen sink at tone creation with multiple tracks. I've deleted more than my fair share of tracks that just didn't work lately.

I've got quite a bit of time before I am ready to make a purchase, this one is not going to be an impulse buy. I could easily wait 2 months before I jump on a new amp. I only want to do it one more time... for now... this time... only.

[AndyR]

I must admit I'm with Geir on the effects.

I kept quiet about them because I know a lot of folks love them and seem to make them work in their situations.

The last band I was in was a two guitar set up. I can't remember what the other guy used effectwise, but it wasn't much. Me, I was just going through a single channel valve amp, with a Marshall Guvnor pedal set as clean as possible in front of it. I'd kick the Guvnor into action for a slight solo boost. Using the guitar's controls as well, I could get from "country clean" through to crunch and then riffing and "here's yer solo folks".

We found that nice guitar sounds, left dry, pretty much did it for us. I think he kicked in some reverb or mebbe delay for his solos, but I didn't even bother doing that. The volume and the venue make notes sound and feel lot more impressive than they do in your living room - and that's often enough to get your mojo going anyway.

Playing through my modellors in the living room - 'tis a much different story . I actually fiddle around with delays and stuff quite a lot. But live, I like that plain old "cooking valve amp" sound - not too much grit, but enough to put yer granny off (and get the rocknroll going).

[Tony W]

First trip to a store, a small local one. I tried out a few amps, and crossed a few off the list. The standout in the store was a Blackstar HT-60 (60w 2x12 combo). Clean, I really wish I had the ES-336 in front of it... It was amazing. The overdrive channels were not quite what I have in my mind, but they are more than serviceable. I think with a little time tweaking it, and having my own guitar would make a huge difference.

Next up samash and GC... stay tuned..... get it, TUNED....

[Saijinn Maas]

The Blackstars are great amps. But unless you go with a Series One 100 or 200, the gain is going to be a bit on the "less growly" side of things. Great for blues and old rock n roll, but not quite there for Metallica and harder stuff. You will want to get a good distortion to add to it or an eq. I bought an MXR M-109 6-Band Graphic EQ for my Blackstar HT-5, and it does wonders in bringing out the growl. You will the best results though by patching it in through the Effects Loop in back rather than inputting between the guitar and amp.  

Though it sounds like the HT-60's gain is not bad at all. Should be plenty to get Metallica type stuff. Most metal is not as high gain as you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MicxsQRUKM

This one he is only using the EQ pedal and delay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f2JGGD7fFg

Or like we had talked about before... the Blackstar HT-100 - No pedals used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjWQm74l1fE

And finally and Blackstar Series One 100

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBkauwciqK0

[Tony W]

You are after my own heart Sai. The second video is exactly what makes my short hairs stand.

I played a Mesa single rectifier tonight. The sales guys at samash asked me to turn it down, they couldn't hear the phones ring. I replied, if you can figure out a way to turn it down, then go for it. It was at the minimal settings. I'm really wondering what it would sound like at half volume....

[Saijinn Maas]

For some amps like the Mesa, you need to buy an attenuator. It allows you to control the output and lower the volume. 

[Prive]

I have some serious amps and the same pedalboard as you, seriously i'll buy any amp with effects loop you like for using at home without any pedals just for play and when you rehearsal and gig plug that X3 live to the return plug just for stage sound and send the XLR outputs to the PA system, you can't beat that sound unless you use the 80's Steve Lukather's rack.
Marcelo.